It looks like the Mets are awfully interested in hiring Clint Hurdle, as he’s among a group that’s getting a second interview with the club. If they don’t I guess we have to assume that the Pirates will want to hire him since they’ve waited it out this long. And if the Mets really do want Hurdle, then I guess the Pirates will go with Jeff Banister, because they sure haven’t been seeking anybody else out over the last few weeks.
One thing I do want to point out is that there seems to be this sentiment that Banister isn’t qualified for the managerial gig because he hasn’t managed in the minors or even sat on a coaching staff for quite some time prior to his short stint this year as interim bench coach. I think that that point of view kind of overlooks how much responsibility the minor league field coordinator has and how much that job is like the manager of the entire minor league system. One of the other finalists for the Mets’ job is Terry Collins, who’s currently working as their minor league field coordinator after a long career of managing in the majors, minors, and Japan. The Orioles’ ex-manager Dave Trembley was just hired as the Braves minor league field coordinator. That’s not to say that being a minor league field coordinator automatically qualifies you from being a manager (I would guess that the position has different responsibilities from team to team), just that it shouldn’t automatically disqualify you from it.
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